POCOLA, Okla. - A man is behind bars after being accused of murdering his girlfriend in an Oklahoma community.

Around 8:30 a.m. on Monday, troopers with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol were called to the area near the J.L. Swink Municipal Park in Pocola after receiving a call about a “deceased woman.”

A short time later, authorities arrested 31-year-old Steven Asher after he was accused of murdering Amanda Millar with a machete. Authorities say Asher stabbed Millar outside of her home and fled the scene, leaving her body in the street.

“She was really happy-go-lucky, really smiley,” said long-time friend Nikki Hicks. “She was a person, she was a mother, she was a daughter. She didn’t deserve what happened to her. No one does.”

In 2012, Asher was charged with assault and battery for a domestic abuse case involving Millar.

In 2016, officers were called to the same home again for domestic abuse. However, police say Asher's charges in that case were dropped.

“It appears in that incident there were charges filed against Mr. Asher, but it appears that the DA's office had determined that it is possible that Miss Millar was the aggressor in that situation," explained Michael Roeder, an investigator with the Pocola Police Department.